Divine - "The 4th Letter"

Divine represents and hails from Brooklyn, New York City and Fort Greene, Brooklyn by way of Rhode Island (coincidentally, Fort Greene is named after American Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island). He was born and raised in Newport, Rhode Island (renowned as the "Mecca of the Jazz [music] world") for most of his early life and teenage years (which explains his strong affinity to Jazz music, although he didn't actually grow up on it - he credits the music of all the Jazz greats that played the Newport Jazz Festivals while he was still in his mother's womb and a small child, knowing now that those sound vibrations still reached his ears and sank into his sub-conscious), and he also lived in Rhode Island's capital city Providence (which literally means "Divine Guidance") as a young kid. Always highly intelligent and mature beyond his age, Divine began traveling regularly outside of Rhode Island in his early teens to New York City, and Philadelphia, observing and absorbing the different styles and distinct cultures of these two cities. Highly spiritual and charismatic, Divine grew up listening mostly to East coast (New York) Hip-Hop from the "Golden Era" (1986-1989), this, and his spiritual ideology/theology (he's a so-called "Five Percenter") is the influential foundation of his musical/lyrical style and content, as well as his strong personal connection/relation to and affinity for New York City, particularly the borough of Brooklyn ("Medina").

Divine is heavily embedded in Hip-Hop music and has been writing, recording, and performing since the age of ten. His musical style and sound is reminiscent of the "Golden Era" (1986-1989) in Hip-Hop when the likes of Eric B. & Rakim, KRS-One, Slick Rick, and EPMD, etc. reigned. Divine captures and epitomizes the modernization and personification of the sound and vibe from that era in his entire persona, presence, lyrical and musical style, sound, and vibe; and brings back the originality, diversity, and lyrical complexity, which was once the cornerstone of Rap music. He counts Rakim, Kool G Rap, and KRS-One as some of his greatest influences, as well as a few other past and present artists. His poetics and style is most similar to and inspired by the legendary Rakim, with slight elements reminiscent of Nas, and the sound of his voice ranging between these two great artists; yet he still maintains his own originality and uniqueness. Nevertheless, this has brought him strong comparisons to both of these artists, and there is no doubt he will continue to be compared to them - especially and particularly Rakim, as Nas was. However, emphatically put, Divine is the only similarity between Rakim and Nas.

Divine's music is designed for the masses, but tailor-made especially for this present day Hip-Hop generation. With thought provoking lyricism, he combines a universal worldwide view and knowledge of self with social and political awareness, deep spiritual consciousness, cultural elements, personal life experiences, and raw urban realities, into a thick and superb style of story telling and rhyming. Growing up in the streets of the ghetto in poverty, with no parental guidance, is what gave Divine his social and political awareness, but not until he became a victim of the penal system did this awareness totally crystallize and deepen. While incarcerated, he received "knowledge of self" when he was introduced to and absorbed in the Nation Of Gods & Earths (formerly the Five Percent Nation Of Islam), and it's teachings, and took on the full righteous name/attribute of Divine Lord Magnetic Allah. His incarceration was the catalyst that sparked, created, and shaped his spiritual and conscious persona and the positive essence of his poetics. With over ten albums (presently unreleased) to his catalog and over ten years experience in creating urban music, it can be reasoned he's not yet signed to a major label only because he was locked away. Divine presents the rarity of an artist with a complete package and star quality. His ghetto and street life savvy, and the seven plus years he's spent locked in Federal prison, gives him the real-life story and authenticity that most so-called hardcore Hip-Hop/Rap artists only claim to have lived.

Divine is a highly charismatic MC of great talent and artistry. His music and rhymes are not only clever, creative, and witty, but also very unpredictable and highly intellectual and intelligent. As an artist he's able to mix, blend, and balance his street knowledge and experience with his spiritually-conscious intellect, intelligence, and intuitiveness so well; he creates and gives himself an enigmatic and uncanny mystique and universal appeal, and leaves any listener with a sense of connection and/or understanding. Divine's lyrics are versatile and razor sharp, which enables him to cut through and penetrate the mind state of any listener regardless of their age or degree of consciousness; keeping them in a perpetua